So where did the EP come from, who/what made it popular, and more importantly, what can it do for you–the independent musician?

Before the EP was introduced in the early 1950s, music was mostly released as the 45 rpm vinyl single or the 33 rpm vinyl LP album. Then in 1952, RCA released the “Extended Play” 45 as a competitor to the LP. The EP was still playable by the standard 45 rpm equipment, but used narrower grooves to achieve 7.5 min of playing time per side, and containing about 4-6 tracks total.

Record companies used the EP as a promotional tool to release an artist’s just-cut tracks to generate interest in an upcoming album, and also to package several radio hits onto one vinyl record for a cheaper price.

The EP, although occasionally released in the U.S., never really caught on with consumers here, but it was a big hit with music aficionados in the U.K. and parts of Europe and Asia. In the 1960s popular bands such as the Beatles , the Monkees, and Frank Sinatra all achieved major success with EP releases in the U.K. and Japan.

By the 1980s, singles were being released in formats that allowed for more than 2 tracks (think cassette tape), transforming the EP to be defined by more than just its extended playing time. A release of 4 or more tracks of equal importance became the new standard for the EP, differentiating itself from the 4-track single, which included one main hit and three accompanying songs.

Nowadays, an EP is generally thought of as having up to 36 minutes of music and around four to six tracks, and an album has anywhere from 30-80 minutes of music and about eight to twelve tracks. So who’s releasing EP’s these days? Matisyahu released his “Shattered” EP in October of 2008, and Death Cab for Cutie, Destroyer, and Modest Mouse (The Open Door EP, Bay Of Pigs EP, No One First And You’re Next EP, respectively) all released EPs in 2009.

Most importantly, as an independent artist what are the advantages of releasing an EP (as opposed to an album)? Ultimately you’ll be releasing your new music at a much quicker pace and getting your music to fans faster; since you’ll be recording fewer tracks, you’ll cut down on studio and post-production time, and get your EP out more quickly. And what fans don’t want new music sooner?

Also, professional production costs will be reduced because there are fewer tracks to record. And fewer tracks means a unified sound will be more easily achieved, which we all know is hard to do on an 8-12 track album. Plus, your shorter release will leave fans wanting more, and anticipating your next release!

And one more thing–if you’re producing your EPs for cheaper, releasing them more often, and selling just as many as you would if they were full-length albums, that results in more financial gain in a shorter amount of time.

So when’s your EP release party???

When I played Rock Band the first time on my friend’s Xbox 360, I was completely addicted, but sort of jealous. I remember saying to my buddy while rockin’ out on the drums: “I wish you could play my band’s songs in this game!”

Think of all the people to whom you could potentially expose your music through a video game like Rock Band: millions of kids, adults, and fellow musicians who embrace the fake Stratocaster controller as a chance to rock out. Currently, a few bands are able to do that through the game’s “Bonus Tracks” – these are playable songs by less known, typically local acts that were lucky to make their way into the game. (Disclaimer: most of these bands have some sort of connection with the game itself, such as a singer who happened to be a game developer.)

In a couple of months, this is going to be possible for the rest of us. Harmonix (the original creators of Rock Band, also Boston-based) is going to be rolling out a public beta of their new Rock Band Network in mid-November. This is a new online community that will allow bands, producers, or avid fans of the game to construct new Rock Band tracks based on their own master recordings, and then upload them for sharing within the game. Harmonix also will provide categorization for your music using several parameters and help with promotion of user-created songs. Finally, bands will be able to set a small price ($1-3) to download their Rock Band tracks if desired, allowing for a small revenue stream.

This has huge potential as both a promotional venture and revenue stream for bands. The Rock Band series has sold over 13 million units, and players have downloaded over 50 million songs for the game. The download store has already been a huge success for major acts, with bands like Metallica releasing their full albums in the store. Bands struggling to expand out of the garage towards an international presence will be able, after some sequencing work, to share their music both in this network and the Rock Band download store.

Also, artists who publish tracks on the network will retain all rights to their songs and retain 30% of the download revenue – while this doesn’t seem to high at first, put it in the context of the above numbers, and there might be a small but worthwhile source of cash for struggling bands.

Harmonix has set up a partnership with Reaper, a cheap but powerful audio/MIDI workstation, which you can use to create MIDI tracks based on the original master tracks of your song. Once the MIDI tracks are created and synched up, bands can upload them for review and then publishing on the web. Reaper will look familiar to anyone who’s ever spent some time in the recording studio or with a synthesizer: audio tracks will display at the top of the window, with additional MIDI plugins that Harmonix will provide to convert audio data to MIDI code below. The process is sure to get tedious, but you’ll want to make sure your song sounds right in the new format, so perfection is key. The final piece of the process involves an eight-person review process to ensure accuracy & playability and prevent copyright infringement.

Adam Yoon over at Joystiq, a popular gaming website, puts it best: “The cost of entry is relatively low for what is, essentially, a new avenue of music publishing: a copy of Rock Band 2, an Xbox 360, a $99 Creator’s Club membership, and the $60 license for Reaper. For dedicated enthusiasts and professionals alike, that’s an easy price to swallow.”

Check out the landing page for the Rock Band Network for some more info here. For Adam Yoon’s in-depth look, click here. Also, check out Reaper, the MIDI workstation, at reaper.fm. Finally, check out Harmonix, the company behind it all, here.

Happy rocking!

This article continues Line 6’s home recording series with a step-by-step exploration into recording software and interfaces. When you’re up and running, head over to the Line 6 Community to download free Reason ReFills, free drum loops and free backing tracks! More great articles to come! Bookmark the Line 6 Lounge and don’t miss a thing!

In the opening article of this series we looked at computers for home recording. This time we’ll look at a couple other essential ingredients of a home recording setup, touching briefly on the audio interface and then focusing on the software that turns a computer into a DAW (digital audio workstation).

Today’s DAW is a computer-hosted hardware/software combination that handles several related tasks:

Conversion – the changing of audio signals from external instruments and microphones into digital data on the way to the computer and back to analog signals on the way out.

Recording and Playback – the storing and playing back of audio data to/from the computer hard drive.

Synthesis and Sampling – the generation of “software instrument” sounds by the computer, either sampled (based on actual recordings) or synthetic (built by modifying and combining waveforms).

Sequencing – the storing and playing back of MIDI data that is used to play software instruments from the computer and also to control playback of external devices (e.g. a MIDI keyboard or sound module).

Editing – copying, cutting, pasting and otherwise modifying and reordering recorded sounds.

Effects – modifying recorded sounds or software instruments by applying reverb, chorus, distortion, etc. to make them sound more pleasing or to create a desired mood.

Mixing – combining and balancing all the recorded and software-generated sounds into a final mix, typically two channels (stereo) but possibly surround sound (e.g. 5.1), often using automation.

The first of these seven tasks is handled by audio interface hardware. Plug in a guitar or mic, and the interface handles the conversion so you can get the sound onto your computer. The details of interfaces are a subject for another day, but bear in mind the old adage “garbage in/garbage out.” In other words, to get a clean, accurate recording of the signal you are sending into the computer, you must use an interface with high-quality converters and microphone preamps. You’ll also want to be aware of how different interfaces deal with latency (delay between when you strike a note and when you hear it; see Sound on Sound article). POD Studio^TM and TonePort® interfaces from Line 6 use an exclusive ToneDirect® monitoring design to make latency a non-issue.

Audio interfaces come as either a card that goes into a slot (e.g. PCI) in the computer or a standalone box that connects via USB or FireWire. The most common and flexible setup is a USB 2.0 box like Line 6’s POD Studio and TonePort interfaces. Depending on what you plan to record (guitar and bass only? vocal microphone? MIDI data?) the POD Studio line likely provides an interface tailored to your specific needs. And because POD Studios are directly integrated with POD Farm^TM software, there is no more convenient or better-sounding way to add high-quality effects during either recording or mixing (more on this in a later article).

Software Needs

Interface hardware lets you get sound into and out of your computer, but everything else you do with that sound is controlled by software. Early on, MIDI sequencers such as Performer were distinct from audio editors such as Sound Designer, which in turn were distinct from DAWs like Pro Tools. But these days most DAWs handle to some degree all the remaining six tasks in our list above. That’s not to say however, that all DAWs are alike. Top-end DAWs like Pro Tools|HD and Nuendo offer lots of features in areas such as sound-for-picture that may not be of great value to the typical singer-songwriter, while consumer-level programs such as GarageBand can lock you out of features that you may later wish you had (e.g. in-song changes to meter or tempo).

For musicians who are just getting started with home recording, perhaps the best compromise is a bundle that gives you what you need to get started (sufficient audio and MIDI tracks, access to high-quality sounds and plug-in effects, etc.) while also providing a path to move up. This approach usually combines an interface with a “lite” version of DAW software. In the case of Line 6’s POD Studios, the interface actually comes with three different software packages, each with its own specific emphasis, as well as modeling software (POD Farm) that can apply a huge variety of effects to guitars, bass, vocals, keyboards, and other instruments as they are being recorded (standalone mode) or during mixdown (plug-in mode).

Sequencing with Live

Of the bundled POD Studio applications, Ableton Live Lite 7 for Line 6 is the most representative of a typical DAW, so we’ll use it to take a closer look at what DAW software does. If you’re already somewhat familiar with DAWs, Live will seem at once familiar and different. While other companies try to make their programs look “realistic,” Ableton takes a decidedly 2D approach to Live’s on-screen interface. But despite its flat appearance, Live lets you go deep, particularly if you’re inclined toward loops and ambience.

One of Live’s two main windows, the Session view, is uniquely suited for live performance (not a typical DAW capability) in that it lets you stack sets of sound “clips” (building blocks of recorded or synthesized sound) into tracks and then switch manually between them, with the transitions always taking effect on the beat. You can use this view offstage as well to quickly experiment with different musical parts to see what goes best with what.

Live’s Arrangement view, on the other hand, is set up as a typical DAW, with a timeline against which tracks run from left to right. Three types of tracks may be displayed: audio, MIDI, and returns (from effects sends). MIDI tracks are for MIDI clips created in Live. You can record MIDI clips either from an external MIDI controller like Line 6’s POD Studio KB37 or from the computer keyboard itself. Or you can compose MIDI by using the pencil tool to draw notes in the Clip view.

MIDI clips are given voice by instruments from the Instruments folder in Live’s Devices “browser.” An Instrument Rack subfolder is full of software sounds in families such as brass, keys, strings, etc., while drum instruments are accessed via the Drum Rack and Impulse devices, which each give precise control over the sampled or synthetic sounds in a kit. Live also includes a built-in sampler application (Simpler), so if you are into tweaking sounds, Live gives you plenty to work with. You can also buy collections of additional software instruments (Live Packs) from Ableton.

Most home recordists aren’t set up to record live drums, so one crucial DAW capability is sequencing a MIDI drum track. Here’s how to do it in Live:
» Free some processing cycles and RAM on your computer by quitting any unnecessary programs (learn more about computer optimization).
» Use the controls at the upper left of the Live window to set the tempo and turn on the metronome (if you want a count-in, set it in Live’s preferences).
» Right-click in the arrangement view to insert a MIDI track.
» Use the Device browser to find a drum instrument (e.g. “Studio Windsor”) from the sub-folders in the Impulse folder, and drag it onto the track.
» Set the monitoring button at the right of the track display to Auto, and click the track’s record enable switch (circle within rectangle) to arm the track. When you play the keyboard you should now be able to hear drum sounds and see them in the meters at the far right of the track display.
» Enable recording by clicking the Global Record button (circle in square) in the control bar at the top center of the Live window.
» Begin recording by clicking play (triangle) or pressing the computer space bar.

As you record, note blocks will appear in the track. When you’re done, click on the new clip to select it, then press Shift+Tab to display the recorded MIDI pitches in the Clip View at the bottom of the Live window. Now you can edit the clip, including cutting and pasting notes, quantizing (Edit menu), altering the groove (e.g. triplet feel), drawing notes with the pencil tool, and creating loops.

Overdubbing Audio

Once you’ve built a MIDI drum clip to play against, you’re ready to overdub audio from an instrument (e.g. bass, guitar, keyboard) or mic to create an audio clip:
» If you’re using a Line 6 audio interface, route signals for recording by launching POD Farm and setting the Input drop-down (about halfway down the left side of the window) to match the input (e.g. instrument in, mic in, etc.) that you’re using on the interface.
» In Live, be sure that the Input Type drop-down at the right of the audio track is set to External In (default), and that you’ve configured Live (in Preferences) to use your interface as its audio input device.
» Insert an audio track, confirm that its monitoring is set to Auto, and record-enable the track. You should now be able to hear your instrument and see it in the meters at the far right of the track display.
» Start recording by clicking the Global Record and Play buttons.

As with most DAWs, when you stop you’ll see the waveform of the recorded audio appear in the track display. You can continue the overdubbing process with a new audio track to add more layers of recorded instruments to your song.

Once you’ve recorded audio clips, you can perform another key DAW function, which is editing your clips:
» Zoom into an edit point by clicking in the Beat Time Ruler (above the track displays) and dragging down. (You can also click and drag the divider between tracks to increase the vertical size of the waveform.)
» Select part of the clip by click-dragging in the waveform. The default snap-to-grid option means that the selection will be in increments that correspond to the beat.
» Use the standard Cut, Copy, and Paste options from the edit menu to modify the clip or paste it into other places in the track.

Live Lite is a very complex program, and the quick rundown above barely scratches the surface of its recording, sequencing, synthesis, and editing capabilities. For example, Live lets you use Propellerhead ReWire to mix in audio from another currently-running audio application, such as Reason Adapted. Both ReWire and Reason Adapted are included in some POD Studio bundles; a Propellerhead tutorial shows you how to set them up to work with Live. Line 6 even offers registered users free online drum loops in REX files that can be used in Reason Adapted, and also sometimes features free Reason ReFills (software sounds) on its Community page.

Live itself also includes a series of built in “lessons,” that walk you through many aspects of the program’s operation, which are definitely recommended. In our next article we’ll use Live again to look at two additional aspects of DAW software: applying effects and using automation in mixing.

This article was written by Chris McCown at Sweetwater. We’ve publishing an entire series of articles in the Lounge from Sweetwater. Keep your eyes peeled and check back often! And now for some motivation.

If you’re like me, then your studio consists of a DAW (digital audio workstation software), a computer, an audio interface, a decent set of monitors, a nice selection of plug-ins, possibly an outboard mic preamp or two, and a couple of good mics. Maybe you have an outboard EQ or compressor, and you may even be using a nice master clock with high-end AD/DA converters. Hopefully some acoustic treatment is present on the walls and in the corners.

If this is you, you will definitely benefit from what I’m about to tell you, although I believe a summing mixer – which is the key term of this article – will be beneficial to anyone who records audio whether it’s in a small basement studio or a full-blown commercial production facility.

What is a “summing mixer”? A summing mixer is an analog device that takes multiple audio outputs from your digital-to-analog converter or audio interface, and mixes them in the analog domain. Essentially you’re taking your mix out of the computer/DAW digital domain, and stepping into the analog realm to create a mixed stereo track filled with high-headroom, spatially present glory. A summing mixer can be either a dedicated box, such as those from Dangerous Music, TL Audio, Audient, and other manufacturers, or it can be a compact or console-style analog mixer.

But wait, your DAW has a mixer screen; why would you want to go outside to an analog summing box or mixer? Good question, but I assure you, if you’ve ever had the opportunity to listen to a mix that’s been passed through a summing mixer versus the same project with an “in-the-box” mix, that question would answer itself. You’ll have more headroom, which will give each track more room to fit into its own place in the mix. The stereo image will spread significantly, and the depth of the mix will increase. To be completely clear, you probably won’t just take your in-the-box mix, reassign the outputs to your brand-new summing mixer, and print the mix. Some remixing will likely be involved, partially because you’ll find things that weren’t optimal about your in-the-box mix, and in part because the perceived levels will be different.

Have you ever worked on a project where you knew you had spent the appropriate amount of time getting everything just right, before tracking? You experimented with different mic positions, you made sure levels were right with no digital clipping, and worked until the material was well rehearsed and polished. Yet, after tracking, although you did your best in mixdown, the mix just sounded dull and flat? Perhaps some of the nuances got lost in the mix, or there was no depth to the recording; there was left-to-right spread but there was no front-to-back depth – you didn’t feel like you could step into the mix while you were listening, because it was so one dimensional?

Perhaps it wasn’t your ability or the material. For example, I was working on a 6-song album in my DAW early last year, and I was pulling my hair out trying to get something I could live with, because I knew the band was going to release it into distribution. That’s when I first tried a Dangerous Music D-Box – which is a combination of a summing mixer and a killer monitor control box – and it saved my mixes! Just as I had described, my mixes were flat, dull, and uninspiring. I tried everything I knew to try – and I mean everything! Nothing was working. I could get the mix to sound different, but not necessarily better. Tracks were getting buried, there didn’t seem to be enough room for each track to breathe. The D-Box summing mixer was the answer.

Here’s how I did it: from the DAW, all the drum tracks were sent in stereo to two outputs on my interface, all guitars in stereo to another pair of outputs, vocals (including back-up vox) in stereo to another output pair, and the bass guitar all by its lonesome on another output. The D box has eight analog inputs, which are all combined to a single stereo output. As soon as I remixed my material and sent the tracks out to the D-Box as separate stereo pairs or “stems,” I could finally call it “done.” The stereo image spread wide open, as if someone had opened up another room. All of the sudden there was depth – that front-to-back thing that can be so elusive, and each track (even the quiet tracks and passages), had its own space and popped out of the mix.

The next time you find yourself pulling your hair out after realizing your mix just doesn’t sound as good as a commercially produced track, you might be ready to take your mix out of the box. If you’re looking to buy one piece of gear to step up your mixing game, a summing box is hands down the best suggestion I could give you. Happy mixing!

Chris McCown has over 23 years experience as a musician and over 15 years experience as an engineer. He’s currently studying music theory, playing lead guitar at his church, and is a Sales Engineer at Sweetwater, in addition to writing and producing his own material. He can be reached at 1-800-222-4700 ext. 1328 or chris_mccown@sweetwater.com.

Tom Volpicelli, President of The Mastering House, took some time to answer your top questions regarding Mastering.  If you have additional questions for Tom, just leave a comment.

What is Mastering? What’s the difference between mixing and mastering? (For the laymen)

For some, mastering is a misunderstood art which conjures images of mad scientists twiddling with knobs or the Wizard of Oz. Others believe mastering simply makes a CD as loud as possible. Mastering, in fact, is neither of these things; it is generally considered the stage of audio production where the final mixes are enhanced and prepared for the formats that will be used during replication and distribution. In the case of CD, the final master is not really created until the replication process. Some may refer to this stage as pre-mastering rather than mastering, but we’ve come to use the term interchangeably.

In the newer age of downloads, the final product produced during this stage may very well be the final “master”.

To understand the difference between mixing and mastering let’s start with a little background. The audio production process is essentially broken down into phases with each one building on the previous. First, there’s pre-production, where the producer and artist get together to choose songs for the album, arrange the music, and organize everything in preparation for the recording session. This phase is critical in order to get the best performances and use of studio time.

Next is the recording phase where the basic tracks are recorded, along with any overdubs for vocals and instruments. Rather than “fixing it in the mix”, the focus during recording should be to get the best possible performances and sound for the tracks. A bad microphone choice or placement means more corrective measures will need to be made later. Likewise, a bad performance could mean more editing, auto-tune, or other processing, which tends to make a performance sound less natural.

Recording is followed by the mixing phase, where all tracks are combined, usually as a stereo two-track mix. In this stage, the final decisions on how the individual tracks will sound and how they will combine for a given song are made. EQ, levels, effects, and any other processing is applied to the individual tracks which are then mixed together in stereo. There may also be some processing done over the entire song, but it’s usually best to keep it minimal. One of the biggest complaints among mastering engineers are mixes which are over compressed or limited. It can be very difficult near impossible to remove the artifacts created when a mix is overly compressed or distorted. Likewise, poor decisions on EQ, levels, or effects for the individual tracks are very difficult to address since the mastering engineer will only have access to the stereo mix and not the individual tracks of the song. For example, if a vocal is too bright while the other tracks are dull, compromises will often need to be made.

The final phases of audio production (or post-production) are mastering and replication. Just as the mix engineer’s job is to combine all of the tracks together for an individual song, the mastering engineer works to combine all songs together to create the album. While many of the processes are the same (EQ, compression, etc.) it’s a higher level view and approach for the project than mixing. Final decisions for EQ, compression, and levels for the songs are made along with the order for the tracks, edits, fades, pre-master, quality control, and documentation for the replication plant. Again, this is why things like overall EQ and level for an individual song are best left until the mastering stage. Until you have heard a song in the context of all the songs on the album it’s very hard to make a final decision on its level and balance. That ballad that sounded so good on its own may be far too loud when compared next to a “rocker” that’s mixed at a later time.

Why is Mastering important in today’s competitive market?

The Internet has opened the floodgates for artists; it has leveled the playing field in terms of promotion, marketing, distribution, and global audience access. When promoters, labels, and potential fans listen to a song on Sonicbids, or any other social networking site, they could be comparing music that has been produced in a small project studio against those done with a significantly larger budget. Even though the song may be great, without mastering it can sound muddy, weak, and lack the impact of a properly mastered song. It’s analogous to a job interview; no one goes to an interview in dirty clothes and a bad haircut. Mastering provides the “grooming” for your music to help ensure that it makes the best impression. Mastering is also a reflection of the professionalism and maturity of an artist. Non-mastered tracks tend to sound amateur against a well-mastered track.

Another consideration is the fact that the budgets for artist development at record labels has been shrinking. If you can present a completed product that requires little to no additional production costs, you will be a much more attractive candidate.

What should I expect from professional mastering?

Professional mastering, when done well, provides a better balance in frequency and dynamics, more consistency between the tracks of an album, improved focus on the important parts of your music, along with a quality-assured source that is ready for duplication. Many look to mastering to solve mixing problems, but it’s often a compromise. A positive change in one area may have a negative effect elsewhere in the mix. Another misunderstanding is that some think that effects can be added to tracks; since the mixes are usually delivered as two-channel stereo, the effect will be over the entire song, which is not the same as applying them to individual tracks. In some cases, a mix can be delivered as “stems”, or sub-mixes of the song. In this instance, mastering can address some of the track issues more effectively, but it places the mastering engineer into the mixing process.

What should I look for in a good mastering engineer?

A mastering engineer should have a wealth of knowledge, not only in the technical aspects of recording, but in various styles of music. A good mastering engineer should be very detail oriented, have great ears, and have a genuine interest in your project. A mastering engineer needs to be able to translate the artist’s vision for the project while keeping the technical details as unobtrusive as possible, so communication skills are extremely important.

What’s better – Analog or Digital?

Both! When we think of digital we often assume cheaper plug-ins and hardware, but there are exceptional digital outboard units as well. Generally, digital tends to be more surgical and detailed in nature, while analog (in part because of its slower transient response) adds a certain smoothness and character. Digital creates the ability to employ techniques like look ahead, which are difficult to implement in the analog domain. On the other hand there can be so many variables associated with analog that it’s next to impossible to code it digitally. Personally, I like to take a hybrid approach, using the best of both worlds with a hybrid digital and analog path (depending on the material).

What’s the most important – the Mastering equipment or the Mastering engineer?

There’s a popular saying among mastering engineers, “It’s the driver not the car”. Obviously having good gear makes a big difference, not only in the quality of the sound, but in how quickly and easily the engineer can perform his work. However, a good engineer can work around limitations while a bad or inexperienced engineer is likely to produce poor results, good gear or not.

Why not Master at the recording studio? Should you try this at home?

Due to the fact that mastering serves as the final presentation, critical listening is crucial to ensure the overall sound of your music. The requirements for mastering rooms and gear are a bit different than a recording studio. Mastering suites are usually very minimalistic when compared to mixing studios in order to help reduce issues like reflections and comb filtering that can come from a large consoles and nearby equipment that are necessary components in a recording studio. Trying to master on the same gear and the same room that the tracks were mixed and recorded in can be difficult if the room and gear are not setup optimally for critical listening. For example if the mix room is bass deficient, then the mixes may have a tendency of being bass heavy. Similarly if the monitors are not full range or are “colored” in some way, as is often the case in mix rooms, you could be making EQ decisions that are not best for the music and do not translate well on other systems. Mixing and mastering in the same room with the same equipment is like failing to proof read your final work. Each stage of the audio production chain serves as a check and balance system; having someone who can view the entire album from a fresh, original, and objective perspective is very important. This usually requires a different listening environment, set of ears, and a detachment from the recording and mixing phase.

In home studios where the owner can’t afford expensive equipment and room treatments, the issues with regard to the room, monitoring, and gear may be even further compounded. You can’t master what you can’t hear, or hear properly. Many plug-ins and semi-professional hardware, due to price range and the need to target a specific market, does not have “mastering grade” quality. As a result, the distortion and noise that it adds may do more harm than good. While trying it at home can be a great learning experience, and fine for demos, if you plan to compete with other artists who have had their albums professionally mastered I would suggest a consultation with someone who has mastering experience. Again, would you cut your own hair for an important job interview, or have it done professionally?

What format is best to deliver your mix to the Mastering studio?

The best format is the one that changes the original mix the least. I usually recommend sending mixes as stereo interleaved files at the same sample rate and bit depth as the original recording. These files are often delivered on a CD, DVD, or even transferred over the Internet. Formats such as mp3 use compression algorithms that degrade the quality of the audio, which is certainly not recommended.

What will it cost? How much is too much for mastering?

Prices vary depending on the experience as well as the engineer’s list of previous clients and overhead. Discuss rates with the studio; some studios charge by the track, by number of minutes for a track, hourly, or a flat rate for an album. Based on the studio, some may also charge more for attending the session versus delivery by mail or Internet.

In my opinion, any money spent, which does not result in your artistic goal, is money wasted and too much for mastering. It could be the $10-per-song guy who, while inexpensive, is nowhere close to achieving professional results, or a top name engineer who rushes through a job charges top dollar yet couldn’t care less about you or your finished product. Given that there a quite a few “mastering engineers” who advertise over the Internet but lack the qualifications, some people like to play it safe by choosing a bigger name in the mastering field. You need to decide if that feeling of security and the name displayed in the credits of your CD is going to be worth the extra expense. There are many experienced mastering engineers that aren’t household names yet do a great job because they love what they do and care about their clients and any product that has their name on it. Some engineers will provide a demo of your material before having payment to ensure that they meet your expectations and to show that they are legitimate facilities, others may charge for this service. In addition to these considerations there is the question of your return on investment. If mastering costs more than you are going to make back in CD sales, or doesn’t help to take your career to the next level, then it may be too much.

What does it take to become a mastering engineer?

As mentioned, an analytical and critical ear is essential along with a good technical background and the taste and judgment of knowing what, if any, types of processing to use. Having experience with the other phases of audio production, as well as being fluent in the language of music, is also helpful in my opinion. Above all you need to have a passion for creating great sound, and like any craftsman, a genuine sense of pride in the work that you do.

Tom Volpicelli, President

The Mastering House Inc.

www.masteringhouse.com

Boston’s Mike Davidson Recording presents the “MDR Checklist: 5 Surefire Ways To Improve Your Recordings.” These are money saving strategies that will increase efficiency while in the studio, intended for both the novice and seasoned musician.

5. Write At Home, Record In Session. If you’re looking to save yourself some time (read: money), write before you get to the studio. Know your song structure, arrangement, and lyrics. If you have notation, bring copies for your engineer and band members/session players. Know what’s going where, meaning, the more you “map” out your song, the easier and faster the recording process will be.

4. Practice Makes Perfect. The more time you spend practicing your music, the easier it will be to record it. Being confident in your playing will help you relax.

3. Leggo My Demo. Demoing your songs (i.e., in Garageband or on cassette or anything you can get your hands on) will do wonders for the finished product. Consider the demo to be a a building block (yes, like a leggo) or a blueprint for your song. This helps you hear your music in a new way and communicate your vision to others.

2. Don’t Get Strung Out. Bring healthy snacks to keep your energy up. Pace yourself while working. It’s best to work in 4 hour blocks and take short breaks for food.

1. Bring Extra Stuff. Speaking of getting strung out, if you play guitar or bass, bring extra strings. Bring picks. If you play drums, bring extra heads and sticks. In effort not to exclude other instruments, bring extras of anything that have been known to break. While we’re on the subject of bringing, if you have extra amps, snare drums, guitars, etc, bring them to the session. It’s always fun to experiment. Most importantly, bring a tuner!

For more information on how to improve your recordings and free trial services from Mike Davidson, visit mikedavidsonrecording.com.

This article was written by Mitch Gallagher, the former Editor in Chief of EQ magazine and current editorial Director for Sweetwater.  Over the next few months, we’ll be publishing an entire series of articles in the Lounge from Sweetwater along with contests and prizes. Keep your eyes peeled and check back often!

“State of the art.” A lofty term — and one that gets thrown around a lot these days. It seems as if every manufacturer says that their products are “state of the art,” every recording studio is “state of the art,” and many venues claim to have “state of the art” sound systems. But just what does “state of the art” mean in the real world?

Wikipedia defines “state of the art” as “the highest level of development…achieved at a particular time.” Synonyms include “cutting edge” and “leading edge.” Basically what we’re talking about is the best technology that’s available at a given time. Unfortunately this means that “state of the art” is a moving target…someone is always coming out with something new that pushes the state of art forward. And that’s a good thing, as it means that technology keeps improving. (You could also view it as whatever you get now won’t be state-of-the-art for very long, but why be negative?)

Here at Sweetwater, we’re constantly bombarded with updates, new versions, the latest and the greatest, everything that’s new and cool with live sound and recording gear and software. Our job is to weed through and pass along all this information in ways that are helpful to our customers — our website, SweetNotes newsletter, ProGear and other gear directories, daily inSync internet newsletter, and more are examples of how we do this. It give us a unique perspective on just what comprises the “state of the art.” Let’s take a look at the general state of the art in music gear.

Live Sound

When I was first performing in bands and touring the Midwest, a PA system consisted of a mammoth pile of equipment. The PA speakers my bands used were huge — more than enough to completely fill a truck; and that was before you piled on a massive rack of power amplifiers, stage monitors, another big rack to power the stage monitors, a huge road case for the giant mixer, a rack of effects gear and processors, and a bulky snake for connecting the stage to the mix position.

Things have sure changed. I recently played an outdoor benefit concert for Habitat for Humanity. It’s amazing how far PA systems have come. The main speakers are much smaller and lighter, and many have built-in power amps. The stage monitors have built-in amps, and are compact and lightweight. The mixing console was a digital board with built-in effects and processing that connected to the stage with one thin CAT-5 cable — no bulky snake here! The whole thing was about 1/3 the size (and even lighter in weight) than PA systems of the past. And it was louder, cleaner, and better sounding than older gear.

Another example: Sweetwater’s Director Of Marketing just walked past my office on his way to a singer/songwriter-type gig he’s playing this evening. He was comfortably carrying his entire rig with him: an acoustic guitar, a small shoulder bag with cables and other essentials, and a Fishman SoloAmp. One trip from the car, plug in a few cables and a vocal mic, and he’s making music. And the amazing thing is that this rig — way less gear than would have been required a few years ago — sounds far better than older gear. (And is highly affordable as well.)

So the state of the art for live sound is: lightweight, compact, powerful, affordable, and perhaps most important, priced right. No matter whether you’re a singer/songwriter playing coffeehouses or full band with a theatrical stage show, there are excellent, affordable, portable sound system solutions available for you, at prices you can afford.

Home Studio

It’s no secret that the digital/computer revolution has changed recording studios of all levels — and the same revolution was the catalyst for many of us to be able to get into making great-sounding recordings at home. A recording studio used to require an analog multitrack recorder, a large analog mixer, great big monitor speakers, and racks of processing gear…the only alternative for a home user without deep pockets was a cassette 4-track recorder. And while you could certainly make great music on a 4-track cassette, to truly achieve a studio-quality recording required some serious dollars.

Today things are very different. With a personal computer — laptop or desktop —DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software, and an audio interface, you can do everything that previously required a separate recorder and mixer, as well as stacks of processors. In fact, you can do a lot more with modern tools than you could in the analog days, as today’s digital audio software allows for a level of audio editing, correcting, and processing that musicians of just a few years ago could only dream about. Your studio will still need microphones and monitor speakers, but even those items have dropped so far in price (and simultaneously increased in quality) that the price for getting a home studio up and running is a tiny fraction of what it used to cost to put a studio together.

The beautiful thing is that even a budget home studio can produce extremely high-quality recordings. In most cases, the gear won’t be the limiting factor in a recording’s quality; the limitation will be your technical skill at making recordings and the acoustics of the room you’re working in. (But the “state of the art” has even improved with regard to acoustics — companies such as Auralex have created acoustic treatment solutions that are highly effective while being amazingly affordable, and that can be installed without the services of a high-priced studio designer or architect.)

Get Started!

To use a cliché, it’s a great time to be a musician! Whether you want to record demos to help your band get gigs; track, mix, and master a final CD to sell to your fans; or put together a sound system that will deliver your live sets with crystal-clear quality, the gear you need is out there and it’s gotten much more affordable. The state of the art today is extremely high, and promises to keep getting better and better as technology continues to move forward at a breakneck pace.

Mitch Gallagher is the former Editor in Chief of EQ magazine. He is the author of six best-selling books on music technology and recording, is featured in an instructional DVD on mastering, and has written more than 1,000 articles for magazines around the world. He is a recording and mastering engineer, producer, composer, and musician, as well as the Editorial Director for Sweetwater, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Email him at mitch_gallagher@sweetwater.com or visit www.sweetwater.com or www.mitchgallagher.com.